The Unlikely Saviour
by Wandering Sprites
Summary: Charlie still isn't really sure what in the hell just happened. But he was pretty sure he just ended up in the same universe as the Doctor. Armed with vague instructions from his future self to somehow save certain time periods from destruction, Charles Jay McKimmon isn't really sure how to behave when he meets one of his favourite characters in real life.
1. The Dimension Hopper The Ringmaster

**Title** : The Unlikely Saviour

 **Summary** : _Charlie still isn't really sure what in the hell just happened. But he was pretty sure he just ended up in the same universe as the Doctor. Armed with vague instructions from his future self to somehow save certain time periods from destruction, Charles Jay McKimmon isn't really sure how to behave when he meets one of his favourite characters in real life.  
_

 **Chapter Title:** The Dimension Hopper/ The Ringmaster

Charlie hummed a theme under his breath as he inserted the keys into the lock and let himself into his house. The smell of week-old laundry and cold pizza reached his nostrils and he hummed louder in happiness of the familiar smell.

He was quite self conscious which made him a bit anti-social and so he was very glad to be home and away from people. He wiped his boots off messily on the mat right inside the door before he flung them off. They landed haphazardly next to the shoe rack but he didn't stay downstairs long enough to see them land. He ran upstairs, his socked feet thudding loudly on the wooden carpeted stairs. It was a pleasant sound in the empty house. He lived alone as his parents worked as part of a secret government program and stayed away in order to protect him.

He didn't mind, he preferred it really. No one to ask questions.

He grinned as he shrugged off his jeans and his shirt and threw them onto the floor, walking around in just his boxers and a pair of socks. It was finally summer vacation! His mood soared as he came to terms with the fact that this would be his last summer vacation before he graduated high school the next year. The seventeen year old Canadian headed to the kitchen and grabbed a sugar cookie. He turned to leave before he paused, turned back and picked up the container.

"I'm gonna get so fat," he said mournfully, eyeing the calorie count. He stared at the container for a second longer before he shrugged and carried the entire box back to his bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, as he had left it, and Charlie carelessly kicked it open.

He jumped onto the bed, still clutching the cookies and his eyes darted around his room as his bed jiggled under his sudden weight. His eyes locked onto his target - his treasured laptop - and he leaned forward to reach it, not wanting to actually get out of bed to grab it. He stretched as far as he could, becoming frustrated as his fingertips caressed the side lightly but he could not grab onto it. Suddenly, his laptop opened up on it's own, startling Charlie so much that he jumped backwards and hit his head against his headboard.

He let out a deep groan, rubbing the back of his head before he freaked out again and his wide eyes shot towards his demonic laptop.

"HELL-O." an awkward sounding robotic voice came from the laptop.

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck." Charlie mumbled to himself, still eyeing his possessed laptop with panic. There were no strings, nothing at all to suggest it was a prank. It was his precious laptop - no one but him had ever even laid eyes on it. Nobody even knew where he lived! Even the school had a false address! So what the actual hell was going on?

"I A.M TH-TH-TH-TH.E DIMEN-S-S-S-S-ION HO-P-PER." the buggy laptop finally managed to stammer out.

"Uh..." Charlie didn't really know what to say, "Okay?" he tried, glancing towards his door as he slowly started edging away. It was just a bloody laptop after all, what could it possibly do? Suddenly a laser beam launched from the laptop and seared a hole into his boxers. He jumped back instantly.

"Please don't kill me." he blurted, raising his hands in the traditional surrender position.

"KILL. Y-Y-Y-UH-YUH-OU? HA. HA." laughed the creepy machine.

"Sorry for the intrusion! This is just a pick up for Charles Jay McKimmon!" a cheerful, deep voice echoed in his bedroom. Charlie felt the beginnings of panic as his entire bedroom suddenly began to shake. He was flung from side to side as he struggled to grab onto something.

Suddenly there was a knock at his bedroom door. Charlie glanced fearfully at the demon laptop from hell before he darted to the door, ready to embrace his savior.

The person standing there was not at all who Charlie would be expecting. Not that he had any idea who to expect but this... this was just bizarre.

Because, standing just outside his door, dressed like a circus Ringmaster and with the cheesiest grin on his face Charlie had ever seen, was Charlie himself.

It was all ridiculous and impossible, so if you all will forgive it, Charlie collapsed into a heap, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull, in the most ungraceful faint the world has ever seen.

* * *

Ringmaster-Charlie groaned, "Man, I was pathetic." He complained before lightly kicking his past self in the face to wake him up.

* * *

Charlie groaned and mumbled something before he blinked, his vision slightly blurry before he was once again face-to-face with, well, himself. He eyed himself, trying to determine that it was indeed reality. He absorbed the other mans physical features. The same brown hair, the same green eyes - no, his were much older, much wiser, much more... mischievous? How was that possible? He still looked the same age. Charlie continued staring at the man. His nose was still the same size, not too big, not too small, just good enough for his face. His jawline was still in the same spot. His smirk was twisted to the left, his straight-white teeth gleaming. He also had a bit of stubble and was much more fit physically than Charlie. On top of his head was a black top hat and he had on a white button up shirt, a deep purple vest, a black tie, a black tailcoat, black pants and black boots. He even had white gloves on.

"What's going on?" he demanded of himself. Ringmaster-Charlie grinned before saying, "Spoilers!" and striking a pose with jazz hands.

"..." Charlie just stared back at himself, wondering if he'd always been such an asshole.

"Okay, okay. I can tell you some stuff. But basically," Ringmaster began, becoming much more serious than before. Charlie was slightly thankful for it, he knew himself and knew he could be unpredictable when he was too excited, "Basically, you and I... we create ourselves," He said, furrowing his brow, trying to find out a way to explain it properly, "I, you, me, we kidnap ourselves from the past and turn them into us. We create ourselves."

"But create us into what?" Charlie asked, confused as all hell.

"We're known throughout universe as the Dimension Hopper, the Ringmaster, the Wandering Savior, the Lost-"

"Okay, okay, move on please," Charlie requested, not really caring much about the titles. Ringmaster-Charlie pouted slightly but continued on.

"Basically, due to some stuff, spoilers, we were 'selected'," airquotes around 'selected', "to run around and save this particular universe from destruction. And every time we do so, we move onto a different time period to correct, until there's no more to save."

"What happens then? And why were we selected?" Charlie asked, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to understand.

"We-eell, as far as I know, and that isn't very much, is that once everything is settled, we get to go back home. And the second bit is spoilers, sorry."

"But I'm home now. Can't I just stay?" Charlie pleaded with himself, not liking the sudden pressure that had just been placed on him.

"Nope. It always must be this way. This is a fixed moment in time. You _have_ to become me. You have to save them." Ringmaster-Charlie said solemnly before suddenly breaking into a grin, "Don't worry though! You won't ever age. I'm actually 748 now but you can't tell it, can ya?"

"You're what?!" Charlie squeaked, "But... That's soo long!"

"Yeah, well, it's a lot more fun than just sitting around eating sugar cookies for sure. I might actually miss it when I finally get to go home," Ringmaster-Charlie said, slightly sadly, an unfocused look in his eyes as he reminisced about the places he had been. He quickly snapped out of it though, "Okay! Now I gotta teach you how to operate this thing!" he said as he lead Charlie back into his bedroom.

"What do you mean?" Charlie questioned.

"Well, Charlie-Char-Char," Ringmaster said cheerfully as he grasped the demonic laptop in his hands, "This is your control center."

"What do you mean?" Charlie furrowed his brow.

"Basically, you use this to operate through all of this universe you need to go to. It's like a space ship. Your entire bedroom is a spaceship and this laptop is your control center. Here, let me show you something," Ringmaster said as he quickly pulled something up. Charlie stared at the screen as he did it, making sure he could repeat the action by himself, "There, can you see that?" the Ringmaster asked, pointing. Charlie nodded. It was a screen full of circles, tiny little circles. One of those circles was a gentle pink colour. Mauve, almost.

"That is every single time period you have to save. They turn into that mauve colour when you need to head there. They'll turn green when you can leave and move on. When your entire screen is green, you can go home." he told Charlie, "Now, as for how you're going to get there. As I said, your entire bedroom is your spaceship. You simply press this," and with those words the Ringmaster quickly typed in a code and the bedroom started shaking again. Charlie memorized the passcode as quickly as the Ringmaster entered it in, "And your spaceship'll end up at the next destination. Outside those doors will be your first. Here," The Ringmaster said before pressing a set of 7 keys into Charlie's hand, "These are all the keys to your bedroom. You'll need them. Now, it's my time to leave. And for gods sake, put some clothes on!" he said before he left.

"WAIT!" Charlie shouted as he ran after himself. He stopped suddenly as he realized he was in the middle of a busy street, wearing nothing but boxers. He didn't see himself anywhere. A deep blush arose on his cheeks as he took notice of people starting to stare. He quickly ran back into his bedroo-spaceship. He slammed the door and locked it behind him and rested against it, breathing heavily.

Charlie was never really one for needless panic and so, with another deep breath to compose himself, he headed to his closet. And promptly let out a shrill scream. His closet was no longer a closet. It was a long hallway. Charlie steeled himself as he slowly walked through it. He finally reached a room that was connected to many more hallways. He quickly counted six. There was only one door.

He eyed the room. It had a long, pole like thing in the middle with a lot of buttons along the side. To be honest, it kind of reminded him of the TARDIS control room from Doctor Who. He saw that there was an indent in the surface that seemed like it would perfectly fit his laptop. He headed back to his bedroom to pick up his laptop and see if his suspicions were true. However, when he got back, his bedroom looked slightly... different. For one, his bedroom no longer had a door.

Fresh panic arose in his throat as he felt along where the door used to be.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. His future self was clearly running around so obviously he gets out somehow. He looked at his room again. His original closet now looked like a proper doorway. A new closet had emerged next to where the door had been. He gingerly pried it open only to be disappointed with an ordinary closet.

"Okay, okay, okay," he breathed to calm himself, "No problemo, no problems, no problems at all," he muttered. He quickly grabbed the laptop he had come for and headed back to what appeared to be the control room. With such large interior space, his spaceship exterior had ought to be really big but something inside of him told him that wasn't the case.

He placed the laptop onto the indented space and jumped as the entire area was suddenly lit up with light, getting rid of the uneasy feeling in his chest.

"Greetings," came a robotic voice, causing Charlie to jump, "I am the Dimension Hopper. I will be taking you through your journey. To exit the Dimension Hopper, please consult the door to your left." the voice said, talking about the only door in the control room.

"Uhhh, Dimension Hopper is a bit of a mouthful isn't it? Isn't there anything else I can call you? And why are you called the Dimension Hopper? I thought I was just traveling through time?" Charlie asked, his brain a completely mush. He tried to buy time to think of better questions.

"You are not to be saving your universe. This is an alternate universe you must save. One person in particular you must protect. Also, you may select a name for me." the Dimension Hopper allowed.

"What universe is this? And as for your name... How about..." Charlie started before shaking his head, "No, never mind, what am I doing?" he asked rhetorically, "What universe is this? That's a more important question, what am I doing, jeez."

"You were about to select a name for me. However, I believe you should get dressed and save this time period so we may keep this moving on as quick as possible so you may return home. If that isn't a bother. As for your other question, this is an alternate universe." the machine stated.

"Sassy," Charlie mumbled before brightening, "That's it! I'll call you SASSY! Charlie and his Dimension Hopping Companion, SASSY! In all caps, of course, since you're a machine and all and machines always have fully capitalized names. Oh, we could be a bloody television show!" Charlie laughed, putting on a British accent for the last bit.

Suddenly a hologram of a map appeared in front of him, causing Charlie to jump back in alarm.

"This is a map of SASSY systems." Sassy stated. Charlie grinned, "SASSY Systems, I think I like the sound of that." Charlie then made a point of memorizing every single path and room that appeared on the map.

"I have a bloody pool? And a library?" he asked in shock.

"Affirmative." confirmed SASSY.

"...Do I have to save the universe right now? At this very moment?"

"Negative. SASSY Systems will remain in this precise moment of time for the outside world. Time in the interior of SASSY Systems will continue to pass whereas the time in the exterior of SASSY Systems will remain in the precise second of landing. While time is not frozen, it is behaving as though it has been frozen." SASSY explained.

Charlie had already stripped completely down by the time she was halfway through saying 'Negative' and was running, bare bottomed, to where he recalled the map had shown the pool to be. He left his keys with his boxers and let out a high pitched noise of the utmost delight before he cannon balled into the pool.

Around four hours later and sopping wet, Charlie fumbled to where the map had said the closet was. Closet was a bit of an understatement really. It was larger than his bedroom and filled up to the ceiling with clothes.

They seemed to be fit for men and women of all shapes and sizes.

A light suddenly blinked, drawing Charlie's attention. It was a mannequin wearing clothes that seemed as though they would fit it him. He carefully took them off, taking care not to damage the mannequin by accident. He examined the clothes briefly.

The boxers were simple, just grey with a white waistband. He slipped them on before looking at the pants. They were a pair of regular blue jeans. He wondered why they weren't the same clothes his future self was wearing for a second but then shook his head.

The Ringmaster was nearly 800 years old, of course he changed his clothes.

He slipped on the jeans and pulled on the plain white shirt next. The last to put on was a dark blue blazer. He slipped into it, reflexively rolling up his sleeves to a length just past his forearms.

He glanced around and found a pair of nice white socks and some simple light coloured boots that went nicely with the whole outfit. He ran his fingers through his hair as a final touch before he remembered the keys to SASSY. He dug around the room and eventually came across a lanyard. He slipped the lanyard around his neck and found his keys. He put one of them onto the lanyard, one into his right shoe, and another into his pocket. The remaining keys he took great care to hide them all around SASSY.

"Alright," he said to himself, "I don't know what's out there, hell it's not even my flippin' universe, but I know, whatever it is, I can do it. Future me did it after all. Man... Who am I bloody kidding? I'm fucked." With that, he opened the doors to SASSY and let the sun light hit his face.

Time to save the world.


	2. Smooth

**Title** : The Unlikely Saviour

 **Summary** : _Charlie still isn't really sure what in the hell just happened. But he was pretty sure he just ended up in the same universe as the Doctor. Armed with vague instructions from his future self to somehow save certain time periods from destruction, Charles Jay McKimmon isn't really sure how to behave when he meets one of his favourite characters in real life.  
_

 **Chapter Title:** Smooth.

 **Recap:** Charles Jay McKimmon - Charlie- runs into his future self who tells him he'll have to travel through time to save an alternate universe if he ever wants to go home.

 **Note:** Updates happen pretty much when I finish writing the chapter. :)

* * *

Charlie looked around cautiously before turning to look back at where he had come from. His supposedly gigantic spaceship was a cardboard box with a keyhole.

"That can't be right," Charlie said before he unlocked the cardboard box only to end up back inside of SASSY. He quickly exited.

"Great," he muttered, "I'm a hobo from an alternate universe living in a cardboard box that's bigger on the inside. Don't you just love my life?" he grumbled before he looked around to see where he was. The first thing that he noticed was that he appeared to be close to some kind of shopping center. He glanced at the name before furrowing his brow in confusion. Hendricks Department Store. Why was that so familiar? He was Canadian so it's not like he'd been here before if the plethora of British speakers were anything to go by.

Slowly, he worked up the nerve to head inside the store and look around. Perhaps what he needed to correct was in here?

He was so focused on what it was he might have to do that he wasn't looking around carefully enough and ended up bumping into a blonde girl. She looked like she worked there from her clothes and name tag and so, while he apologized for nearly knocking her over, he examined her face before his jaw dropped in shock. Her face seemed to flush at his sudden expression, "I'm sorry - Are you Billie Piper?" He exclaimed, not noticing how her face fell slightly.

"No, sorry," she said, shaking her head, "I'm Rose Tyler. What about you? You don't sound like you're from here," she introduced and questioned immediately before looking at him slightly expectantly.

He stared for a bit longer, realizing just where he had ended up but, not wanting her to think he was some sort of creep, he answered, "Oh no, I'm not. I'm just dropping in for visit. My name's..." He hesitated, not sure if he should reveal his true name, "Simon. Simon Charleson," Technically, it was a weird truth. His fathers name was Simon. And his father had a son named Charles (him). So really, it wasn't a lie.

"Well, Simon-" Rose began before she was suddenly cut off.

"This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you."

"Oh, it's time to go, sorry Simon!" Rose apologized as she and the other girls rushed to the doors. He appeared to be the only 'customer' inside.

"Will you be purchasing anything sir?" One of the girls asked.

'Simon' considered his words carefully, "Naw, I didn't know it was so close to closing, I wouldn't want to be a bother, I can always come back," he said, trying to be as polite and charming as he could.

Evidently, he wasn't much of either of those things because the girl rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath before rushing out the door.

Charlie noticed Rose get stopped by the security guard at the door and get handed a plastic bag.

"You, sir, the store is closing, please leave," the security guard instructed.

"Oh, um," Charlie racked his brain for an excuse, "I'm just..." He felt worry grow in his throat as Rose disappeared into the lift, "I'm Rose's Canadian cousin, I'm visiting for a while. I'm just gonna wait for her so we can go home together."

The guard rolled his eyes and gestured for him to enter the left after Rose.

"And tell her to hurry up." The guard instructed. Charlie didn't hesitate. He was in the lift and already pressing the button for the basement before the guard even finished his sentence.

He arrived in time to hear Rose calling for Wilson. "Wilson, are you there?" She called.

"Rose, the security guy said to tell you to hurry up," Charlie said casually as he strode up next to her, completely alert and ready for the first sight of danger.

"Why would he tell you that? You're a customer." Rose questioned, stopping for a brief second to question the stranger.

"Oh, the security guy is my cousin, I'm just visiting from Canada." Charlie lied.

"Oh, alright. Well, I'll only be a minute. I've got to hand Wilson his lottery money. You can go," she said politely.

Charlie waved her off, "Naw, it's okay, I've got nothing better to do anyways."

Rose seemed to accept this and continued to call for Wilson. They ended up at a door with a large danger of electric shock sign that also claimed to be the office of H P Wilson, CEO.

"I can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop. Wilson? Oh, come on." Rose said, slightly exasperated. Rose and Charlie noticed a clattering noise further down the hallway.

"Was that you?" Rose questioned him.

Charlie rose his hands up in defense, "Naw, not me. Was it you?" He asked, despite knowing it wasn't.

"If it was me, I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?" She retorted.

"Ouch," grinned Charlie. Rose rolled her eyes with a grin before continuing to call for Wilson.

"Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? Wilson?" Rose then opened a door to the store room and turned on the lights. Charlie blinked, his eyes adjusting to the brighter light. He noticed the boxes of clothes and eyed the dummies nervously. There was a different between watching a television show and actually living it out. Rose wasn't as creeped out by the mannequins which figured, considering she worked there.

"Wilson? Wilson!" Rose called. Charlie made sure to stick firmly by her side as she explored. Suddenly the door slammed behind them. Charlies' eyes widened and Rose ran back and tried to open it but it appeared to be locked.

"You're kidding me." Rose breathed.

"Let me try," Charlie offered, despite knowing he wouldn't be able to. As he headed to the door, ready to try and tackle it down, there were more noises coming from behind them.

"Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?" Rose called out to the noises.

"Who's there?" Charlie asked, offering up some comfort to Rose by lightly squeezing her hand before releasing it and moving in front of her. Suddenly a male shop dummy turned to watch them before approaching.

Charlie swallowed down a scream. Rose rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you got me. Very funny. Are these your friends Simon?"

"No, I'm sorry Rose, but I genuinely don't know who they are." Charlie said. Rose faltered as a second dummy started moving behind the first, followed by a third.

"Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?" she questioned, slightly nervously now.

"Hey, stay back, I'm not afraid to throw a punch, joke or not," Charlie said, pushing Rose further behind him. He knew full well it wasn't a joke but he didn't want Rose to think he was some kind of psychopath so he played his part as well as he could.

More shop dummies began to move as Rose and Charlie continued to slowly back away down the storage area. The lead dummy raised it's arm just as Charlie heard a voice - the Doctor! - call out, "Run!" and turned back just to see Rose get dragged out of the room.

Charlie managed to duck just in time and sprint after the Doctor and Rose. Rose tried to reach for him as the Doctor dragged her away but Charlie shook his head, barely managing to get into the lift before it closed. One of the mannequins, - Autons, they're called - put its arm through the closing doors, grasping Charlie's throat. Charlie gasped, struggling to breath. The Doctor grasped the plastic arm and tried to pry it off. After several sharp tugs, the Doctor managed to pull it off. The doors closed and Charlie lay on the floor in an ungraceful heap, clutching his throat where he was sure bruises would be forming.

"You pulled his arm off. He tried to kill Simon."

"Yep. Plastic." said the Doctor, still holding the arm.

"Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what? Oh my gosh, Simon, your throat, are you alright?" Rose finally asked in concern as Charlie closed his eyes. He waved her off, nodding slightly before wincing. That stupid thing had quite the grip.

"He'll be fine," the Doctor interjected, "Why would they be students?"

"I don't know." Rose said, hesitantly.

"Well, you said it. Why students?" The Doctor questioned as Charlie struggled to his feet.

"'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students." Rose explained.

"I don't think students would try to kill me though," Charlie joked. Rose and the Doctor ignored him.

"That makes sense. Well done." the Doctor praised Rose.

"Thanks." she responded.

"They're not students. Your friend was right. This was not a prank."

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police." Rose stated.

"Who's Wilson?" the Doctor asked.

"Chief electrician." responded Charlie and Rose in unison before glancing at each other. Charlie had forgotten it was her line and he was getting a bit bored with being ignored.

"Wilson's dead." the Doctor said uncaringly.

[Behind Hendrik's]

"That's just not funny. That's sick!" Rose shouted at the Doctor.

"Don't upset the lady, friend," Charlie butted in, glaring at the Doctor who ignored them both.

"Hold on. Mind your eyes." he instructed them.

"I've had enough of this now," Rose said as the Doctor disabled the lift mechanism with his sonic screwdriver.

"You're disabling the lift mechanism?" Charlie asked, trying to make himself seem smart even though he only knew that because he watched the show.

"Yes - how do you know that?" The Doctor asked, turning around to look at him. Charlie tapped his head with his finger.

"I'm good at making connections." is all he said.

"Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" Rose demanded.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," the Doctor said, holding up the small bomb. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed."

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Charlie said suddenly. They never knew in the show how the Doctor got out of this, what if this was the point where he needed to save him?

"Absolutely n-...ot." the Doctor faltered as Charlie slipped past him. He rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him. He then abruptly opened it again, "I'm the Doctor by the way, what's your name?" he asked Rose.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!" the Doctor said before closing the door once again.

"What are you waiting for then?" he asked Charlie as he led them through the hall.

"Nothin' boss, just awaitin' orders," Charlie grinned. Suddenly there was a bang at the door. Charlie went to it immediately, placing various items he could find in front of it.

As he did that, the Doctor quickly hooked up the bomb, "Alright, time to go... What was your name?" he asked Charlie suddenly. Before Charlie could answer, suddenly an Auton appeared behind the Doctor.

"Watch out!" Charlie shouted before running at the mannequin. It grasped the Doctors neck in it's arms, ready to snap it any second. Charlie tackled the mannequin down so furiously that it's arms remained loosely looped around the Doctor. The mannequin wrapped what was left of it's arms around Charlie and its legs, forcing him into some kind of plastic cage. The Doctor removed the arms from his neck and moved to help but Charlie noticed the timer on the bomb. Five seconds.

"GO! There's no time!" Charlie shouted. The Doctor hesitated. Three seconds. "GO!" shouted Charlie again.

"Thank you," the Doctor said sincerely before he ran out the door.

"Yeah... no problem..." Charlie said, closing his eyes. He wondered what would happen to his future self if he died now. One second.

And then it exploded.

* * *

Charlie woke up, rubbing at his eyes before he frowned.

He appeared to be in some sort of medical center.

"What the fuck?" he asked himself. How was he not dead? He died! In a fiery explosion! A robot wearing a nurses uniform walked up to him. It kind of looked like a thin, more retro looking Cyberman.

"Greeting Charles Jay McKimmon from SASSY Systems. You have successfully saved Time Period 001. When you are ready, please head to Time Period 002. Thank you for your service!" the machine greeted.

"SASSY?" Charlie asked as he looked at the robot, "Didn't I die?"

"Affirmative, you did die," SASSY replied.

"But... I'm alive?"

"Affirmative."

"How am I alive?"

"You cannot remain dead as long as SASSY Systems owns you. Every time you perish outside of SASSY Systems, you will be teleported back here to be repaired and to finish your mission. You completed your mission in Time Period 001 by saving the Doctor and allowing him to escape." the robot nurse explained.

Charlie grasped his head in his heads before lying back down to think, "Well... uhh... okay then. Cool. I'm alive. And I'm owned by a robot. Great," he muttered, "But how did you bring me back to life?"

"This ship contains nanogenes specifically designed to repair you." said the nurse.

"Alright... so, how long was I here for?" Charlie asked, "I mean, nanogenes or not, there shouldn't have been much left of me to repair. I mean, I was blown up."

"You were here for 352 days."

"WHAT?" Charlie shouted, jumping out of bed.

"There was not much of you left to repair. You had to be regrown." the machine explained, "The regrowth took 285 days. The rest was just repair."

Charlie ran to a mirror near his bed and inspected himself. His skin was now completely flawless, brand new. He was dressed in a hospital gown. He quickly took it off and inspected himself thoroughly, making sure he was completely intact. All of his scars were gone. No more scars on his knees from falling as a child, not even that one scar he had across his stomach from falling across a broken mirror.

"I'm smoother than a baby's bottom," Charlie mumbled, feeling extremely weirded out. He shook himself out of his stupor and put his gown back. He tried to recall where the medical wing was on the map SASSY had shown him before so he could find his way to the closet and get himself some clothes.

Finally, he made his way into the closet. Once again, a light guided him to some clothes that would fit. He pulled on a pair of boxers and inspected the outfit. It was a grey suit with a blue button up shirt and a deeper blue tie alongside some dress shoes. Very formal attire. He felt around in the pockets before he found his key lanyard which he placed around his neck. There were two more keys in his pocket, one he left in there, the other he slipped into his right shoe.

Once dressed, he headed to the control room.

"Alrightie then, next place. Let's see," Charlie muttered as he pulled up the time period chart. One circle was now green and another was mauve. He quickly selected it and typed in the passcode. The entire ship started to shake.

"Arrival to Time Period 002 confirmed. Warning: The Doctor must not be informed of your duty as Savior. You must pretend as though you do not know who he is. You died on Earth so many years ago. You are now someone else. You must pretend reincarnation." SASSY warned.

"Why can't I tell him who I am?" Charlie demanded, irritated.

"Telling the Doctor of your duty this early would cause severe mistrust and failure of your missions. I am the past, future and present and alternate. I see all." SASSY warned him.

"But I can tell him eventually?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright, so where are we now? What do I have to do?"

"You are at The End of the World. You must protect the Doctor."

"But... the Doctor does fine in this episode doesn't he? What do I need to save him from?" Charlie questioned, straining his brain to figure out if there was ever a moment in this episode where the Doctor might have been in danger.

"You must protect the Doctor." Sassy said again.

"Alright, alright. Once question though, how will I understand anything that those aliens'll be saying? I don't have a TARDIS to translate for me." Charlie asked, kind of embarrassed.

SASSY seemed to... scoff?

"A TARDIS is unnecessary. SASSY Systems are far superior. You will be able to understand. Your mind is protected by SASSY Systems, the TARDIS or the Doctor will not be able to interfere with the signal. Here." said SASSY and a light shone on her console. Charlie walked towards it to pick up some sort of watch. He put it on.

"This will allow you to retain contact with SASSY Systems on your journey. You can communicate with me through it if you have questions and instruct me to teleport SASSY anywhere you would like. I can also teleport you on board using this device but you must be wearing a key in order to enter. Otherwise direct transport is not possible in order to retain the integrity of SASSY Systems."

Charlie turned it on to see some complicated looking computer stuff.

"Others will view it as a simple watch due to a perception filter on it. Only you will be able to see and use it correctly." she said.

"Alright, thanks SASS'. I should probably go now, eh?" Charlie grinned lightly as he headed to the doors, "Cya soon, SASSY."

"Affirmative. Soon, Charles Jay McKimmon."

And then he opened the doors.


	3. Rules, smules

**Title** : The Unlikely Saviour

 **Summary** : _Charlie still isn't really sure what in the hell just happened. But he was pretty sure he just ended up in the same universe as the Doctor. Armed with vague instructions from his future self to somehow save certain time periods from destruction, Charles Jay McKimmon isn't really sure how to behave when he meets one of his favourite characters in real life.  
_

 **Chapter Title:** Rules, smules.

 **Recap:** Charlie dies in an explosion after saving the Doctor, only to wake up alive onboard SASSY. He and his cardboard box of a ship then move on to a new time period to once again save the Doctors life, but SASSY forces Charlie to hide his identity from Rose and the Doctor.

 **Note** : I apologize for any spelling mistakes/grammatical errors. I'm kind of just writing these and posting these immediately afterwards.

* * *

Charlie just crawled out of his 'cardboard box' when suddenly a blue man appeared in front of him. _I remember this._ Charlie recalled.

"Who the hell are you?" the blue man - the Steward, Charlie recalled, demanded.

"I-I-I'm... Prince... Francis from the... E..h...eva...longa Galaxies..." Charlie blurted before wincing, _what the hell, Charlie? What in gods name are the Evalonga Galaxies?_ , "I was... invited..." he finished off, meekly.

"Do you have your invitation, Prince Francis of the Evalonga Galaxies?" the Steward asked, slightly mockingly.

"Uh, yes. It's just in... it's just in my luggage box here. Let me go get it, sorry for any inconvenience sir." Charlie said, successfully cowed as he quickly slipped back into SASSY before the Steward could say another word.

"SASSY! Please help!" Charlie exclaimed as he slammed the door behind him.

"Please pick up your psychic paper on the left of the console." SASSY droned.

"You couldn't have given it to me before?" Charlie grumbled as he did what SASSY instructed.

"Negative. Watching you stammer is... amusing." SASSY said. Charlie just rolled his eyes, picked up the psychic paper before he paused, recalling the episode in further detail. He then went to the library and picked up a boring-looking book. He easily tore out some of the pages and burnt them with a lighter he found in the kitchen. He placed the ashes into a container and pocketed it.

"That'll do. Probably," he said as he exited the ship.

"There we are, Steward, my invitation!" Charlie said, grinning as he flashed the physic paper at the blue man, "Is that alright?"

"Well of course. It's just that, you're late. The other guests have already arrived."

"Oh, is that so? No matter, I'm here now," Charlie said, trying to be as regal as possible.

"We have in attendance Prince Francis of the Evalonga Galaxies. Thank you!" the Steward said, speaking through a microphone. Charlie swallowed nervously. "There is currently an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank you." the Steward said to Charlie. Charlie walked into the room and tried to look as though he was at ease with all of the aliens.

"Simon? Simon is that you?" came a shocked voice. Charlie took a deep breath before smoothing his face out into a grin as Rose approached.

"Greetings, I am Prince Francis of the Evalonga Galaxies," he introduced himself to her, extending a hand to her as the Doctor came up alongside her, "And who might you be?" he asked as he kissed her hand.

"It's us! Rose and the Doctor! Aren't... aren't you Simon?" she faltered.

"Pardon me?" Charlie asked, taking great care to behave as though he was truly confused.

"Apologies, your majesty," the Doctor butt in, "You just greatly resemble a friend of ours who perished recently. One could say you appear to be identical." he explained, looking a bit pained as he eyed the Simon-lookalike. But of course it couldn't be Simon, Simon had died. Even if he hadn't, there was no possible way for him to be here right now.

 _A friend?_ Charlie wondered, _I've known you both for literally around 25 minutes. But then again, if you don't call the guy who died for you your friend, then you do sound like kind of an asshole I guess._

"Yeah, sorry." Rose mumbled, looking disheartened.

"It is of no worry," Charlie said grinning before he retrieved his container of ashes from his pocket, "The Gift of Peace," he said, "I give you, part of the ashes of my lands most precious book." he said as he handed some of the ashes to Rose who eyed them with a look of vague distaste. He stifled an unmanly giggle but that was quickly extinguished as he remembered what the Doctor gave as gifts and his eyes widened slightly in disgust which he tried to hide.

"Yes, erm..." the Doctor began uncomfortably, "I give you in return, air from my lungs," Charlie held his breath and scrunched his eyes closed as the Doctor blew gently onto his face.

"Yes, well," Charlie said, peeking at them with one eye open and slightly batting at the air with one hand, "How... nice," he faltered, "Thank you."

The Doctor looked as though he couldn't tell if he should be offended or amused.

"If you'll excuse me," Charlie said quickly before slipping away from the two to go to talk to the other aliens to try and figure out just what danger awaited the Doctor.

* * *

Some time later, with still no idea of what he was to be looking out for, he had an armful of gifts which he quickly gave to one of the staff members running around to put into his room for him.

The Steward suddenly stood to make an announcement. "Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." he introduced as a huge head in an equally large jar is wheeled through the doors. There was a brief pause as more gifts were exchanged but Charlie was fairly certain he had distributed the ashes to everyone so he didn't bother to mingle too much. He wanted to go talk to Jack but stopped himself, just in case.

The Steward continued, "And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human," Charlie turned his attentions to the sliding door as the vertical trampoline woman is wheeled through. He felt a bit nauseous. The skin had eyes and a mouth painted with lipstick, "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen." the Steward finished.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am." Charlie couldn't take it. All of these aliens and this disgusting trampoline woman, it was getting to be a bit too much. He didn't even have someone like the Doctor to properly guide him. He quickly slipped out of the room into a hallway to take a breath and swallow down his vomit. After he felt calm enough, he walked back, not noticing that two pairs of eyes were glued to his every action.

"-They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Cassandra was saying, "I have come to honour them and..." she sniffed, "...say goodbye. Oh, no tears." she said as her bodyguard wiped her eyes, "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg," she introduced as a staff member displayed the egg to the room. Charlie kept his eyes on it. While he had never seen an ostrich egg in real life, it was something to cling to, something normal, "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils."

Charlie let out a snort of laughter at that, still not noticing the stares of Rose and the Doctor.

"Or was that my third husband?" she continued and Charlie laughed harder, "Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" she laughed and mumbled to herself as a large jukebox is wheeling into the room behind her.

"And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers."

"Jeezus hahahaha," Charlie giggled to himself as he stared at the so called 'iPod'. The 'iPod' started playing Tainted Love by Soft Cell and Charlie hopped around slightly, jokingly doing the shimmy, much to the amusement of the other guests.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." The Steward said. Charlie noticed Rose rush from the gallery and saw the Doctor be stopped by Jabe. When the Doctor continued to follow Rose, Charlie started to follow him, ready to protect him at any cost.

A few moments later, the loudspeaker was activated, "Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery 15 please report to the steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of all teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty 5.4/cup/16. Thank you." Charlie paled.

The steward was going to die.

"Well, shit," he muttered. He didn't really have a way of saving him. Throwing that thought away, he trudged on, trying not to feel the guilt laying on his heart.

A computer voice then stated, "Earth Death in 25 minutes. Earth Death in 25 minutes." Finally Charlie stopped in Int. Platform One Corridor where the TARDIS was being dragged away by some of the staff. He hoped they didn't figure out what SASSY was.

"Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches." The Doctor warned them. One of them walked up to the Doctor, squeaked at him, handed him a card and walked away. Charlie snickered as the Doctor looked at the staff member's back as if they were completely nuts before he walked off. Charlie made sure to stay close. He stood just outside the door as the Doctor comforted Rose about the aliens. Their conversation was absurdly long and boring, especially since he had already heard it multiple times due to rewatching the series. Charlie caught the end of the conversation where the Doctor finished off with, "Bundle of laughs, you are." The ship shuddered and an involuntary 'yelp' forced its way out of Charlie's throat.

"That's not supposed to happen... Who's there?" he asked. Charlie's eyes widened and he ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. The Doctor just managed to see a grey blur making a turn down the hallway.

The loudspeaker came on again as he ran, "Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you."

Charlie sprinted all the way back to the Manchester Suite and was quick to mingle with the guests that were chatting with one another. He just managed to catch the Moxx of Balhoon is talking to the Face of Boe where Moxx brought up the 'Bad Wolf scenario'.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." the Doctor stated after coming in as he fiddled with a control panel next to the door. Charlie eyed him and Rose but wasn't certain if he should approach just yet. Jabe approached and they had the whole conversation of 'No, Rose is not my prostitute'. Rose went to go talk to Cassandra and the Doctor offered his arm to Jabe.

"Wait!" Charlie called reflexively before the two left.

"Yes?" Asked the Doctor. Charlie swallowed, "I-I'll come with you. I'm certain I could be of some use." he stated and, without allowing them a chance to say no, began to lead the way.

"- And I want you home by midnight!" Rose called to the Doctor who grinned back at her.

"Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes."

"Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a captain or what?" the Doctor asked the two of them.

"Naw," said Charlie, "It'sa computer." he recalled.

"Yes, there's just the steward and the staff. The rest is all controlled by the metal man."

"The computer? But who controls that?" the Doctor questioned.

"The Corporation." said Jabe and Charlie at the same time. Charlie was really only doing this to keep suspicion off of himself - he needed to pretend he actually knew some things, "They move Platform One from one artistic event to another." Jabe allowed Charlie to finish.

The Doctor was silent before stating, "But there's no one from the corporation on board."

"They're not needed," Jabe said, shooting Charlie a look, he smirked but allowed her this one, "They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."

"Unsinkable?" the Doctor asked.

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate." Jabe said.

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable... I ended up clinging to an iceberg, it wasn't half cold."

"The Titanic?" Charlie questioned. The Doctor looked at him but said nothing, turning back to Jabe.

"So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"

"Nope!" Charlie butted in before Jabe could reply.

The Doctor grinned brightly, "Fantastic!"

"I don't understand. In what way is THAT fantastic?" Jabe asked.

"He said he was on the Titanic. Clearly, he's insane. We should totally do whatever he says," Charlie grinned.

They continued their way down the corridor, the low ceiling forcing the trio to stoop slightly.

"So, tell me, Jabe. What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?"

"Respect for the Earth." she answered.

"Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions. What about you Sim- I mean Prince Francis?"

"Having to be seen at the right occasions." Charlie piped up.

"Same for me." Jabe nodded.

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."

"All the same. You respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below. And I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest."

"What about you Francis?" the Doctor pressed. Charlie shrugged, "My race, we're quite close to human. It's only right that I be here to pay my respects." he said, pulling this literally out of his ass. He silently applauded himself for his lie as the Doctor seemed to buy it.

"So, what race are you? Forgive me for asking but I've not heard of the Evalonga Galaxies." the Doctor asked, and Charlie opened his mouth to bullshit some more but the Doctor suddenly pointed to a control panel.

"Excuse me." he said before he began fiddling with it.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two... perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left..." Jabe asked but received no answer and so she continued, "I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species, refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right."

The Doctor stopped scanning and he looked very emotional. Charlie looked away out of respect for the other man as Jabe continued, "I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am." she finished as she put a comforting hand on his arm. They have their little emotional moment as Charlie looked awkwardly off into the distance.

The Doctor finally finished the scan and the trio headed into the ventillation chamber. Charlie eyed the huge fans with distaste. The Doctor looked at them with a bit of a smirk, "Is it me, or is it a bit nippy? Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of, nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it 'retro'." he smirked as he scanned another control panel with his sonic screwdriver, "Gotcha."

The panel fell off and a spider scuttled out and scurried across the floor and up the wall, "What the hell's that?" Charlie and the Doctor exclaimed in unison. Jabe looked confused, "Is it part of the 'retro'?" she asked. The Doctor shook his head, "I don't think so, hold on." He pointed the screwdriver at the spider. However, Jabe fired something of her own which disabled the spider and threw it onto the Doctor's hand.

"Hey! Nice liana!"

"Thank you! We're not supposed to show them in public."

"Don't worry, Simo- I mean Prince Francis and I won't tell anybody." Charlie nodded in confirmation as the Doctor continued, "Now then. Who's been bringing the pets on board?"

"What does it do?" Jabe asked.

"Sabotage." answered the Doctor.

"I hate spiders." Commented Charlie as he eyed the device in distaste. The Doctor smirked and held it closer to Charlies face as Charlie wrinkled his noise.

"Earth Death in 10 minutes."

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." he said as they hurried away. They went together outside the Steward's office where the corridor is filled with smoke. Charlie coughed.

"Come on! Get back!" instructed the Doctor as he moved his sonic over another control panel.

"Make up your mind!" Charlie said, confused as to what he wanted.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

"Was the Steward in there?!" Jabe questioned.

"You can smell him."

"Ew." commented Charlie, trying to hide the guilt he felt with distasteful humour.

"Hold on, there's another sun filter program to descend." Charlie followed the Doctor as he ran along the corridor. He stopped outside of a door and began to try and sonic it open as he asked, "Anyone in there?"

"Let me out!"

Charlie's eyes widened in concern, "Rose!" he shouted as he forgot himself out of concern for the girl.

"Oh, well, it would be you." the Doctor grumbled as he tried his best as Rose continued to plead.

"Hold on! Give us two ticks!"

"We'll get you out Rose, don't worry! Do your best to stay out of the rays!" Charlie instructed. The Doctor looked up expectantly.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising." said the computer and the Doctor looked rather pleased with himself.

"Sunfilter rising... Sunfilter descending."

"This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever." the Doctor grumbled.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Charlie panicked, pacing.

"Oi, stop it you." the Doctor told him just as Rose shouted, "Will you two stop mucking about!"

"I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back!" the Doctor said, offended.

"Open the door!" Rose and Charlie shouted in unison.

"Hang on!" the Doctor instructed.

"The locks melted!" came Rose's voice.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending." The Doctor jabbed his screwdriver inside the wires.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

Charlie and the Doctor tried to open the door to no avail, "The whole thing's jammed. We can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!" he told her.

"Where're am I gonna go?! Ipswich?!" Rose demanded sarcastically. Charlie let out a relieved sort of giggle at her sarcasm.

"Earth Death in 5 minutes."

* * *

Charlie strayed behind the Doctor a bit and walked into the room just as the Doctor said, "Let's send him back to Master." before placing the metal spider on the floor.

The spider scuttled along to Cassandra and looked up at her. Cassandra looked shifty for a moment, but the spider moved on to the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" said Cassandra self righteously.

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." the Doctor said as The Adherents of the Repeated Meme tried to strike him, but Charlie stepped in front of him and caught the arm, still not sure what he was supposed to protect the Doctor from, which the Doctor then ripped off, "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea."

The Doctor ripped out a wire from the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme crumpled into a bundle of black cloaks. The room was filled with gasps as Cassandra rolled her eyes. Charlie zoned out at this moment in time, having heard it multiple times before as Cassandra insulted the Doctor.

He doubted he needed to save the Doctor from _insults_.

"Heat levels rising."

"Reset the computer!" the Moxx of Balhood demanded.

"Only the Steward would know how." said Jabe.

"No, we can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on."

"I'm coming _too_!" Charlie squeaked as he ran up to them as they left.

"You lot - just chill!" the Doctor instructed the crowd they left behind.

"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death in 2 minutes."

They finally reached the ventilation chamber, "Oh and guess where the switch is." the Doctor muttered.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels, rising."

The Doctor pulled a level down and the fans slowed down.

"External temperature, 5 thousand degrees."

Jabe held onto the lever.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."

"I know."

"Jabe, you're made of wood."

"Then stop wasting time." Jabe instructed.

"Hello! Person who won't go up in flames right here!" Charlie said, "Get _outta_ here Jabe, I'm too manly to cry if you end up burning to death." Charlie said softly.

Jabe rested a hand on Charlie's face, "Thank you." she said as the Doctor grinned and ran back to the fans. It was all going smoothly, Charlie even dared to believe he wouldn't have to do any saving after all.

But the Doctor tripped on _air_ of all things in his hurry. That certainly didn't happen in the show.

"WATCH OUT!" Charlie blurted, but the warning came too late. Charlie moved before his brain caught up. He grabbed the Doctor and spun them around, throwing the Doctor back as the blade of the fan sliced into his side. He was still alive as it went in. Charlie felt every single inch of the dull blade inside his body and he let out a terrible scream before the blade flung him off onto the side like trash.

"FRANCIS!" came two identical shouts as Jabe and the Doctor looked off the edge. They couldn't see where he had gone.

"Oh my god." he could hear Jabe say.

"There's no way he could have survived that." the Doctor said, sounding resigned.

Charlie let out a morbidly amused 'heh' that was really more blood than anything else. With his last breath, he asked his watch to teleport him.

And with that, he closed his eyes.

* * *

Charlie woke back up in the medical room and sat up.

"Maaan," he groaned pathetically, "SAAASSSSYYYYY." he called.

"Yes?" came the gentle chime of the machine.

"Do I have to die every single time I save the Doctor?" he asked dryly, "Because that last one was really excruciatingly painful and I'd rather not do it again, thanks."

"You will die multiple times to save the Doctor."

"Great," Charlie huffed, "Well, I'm certainly looking forward to that." he said sarcastically.

"But not every time." SASSY finished.

"Thanks," he said by reflex. He stretched out the arm from the side he was struck by the blade. It was still relatively sore but no where as near as it was before, "So, how long was I out?"

"You've been unconscious for two weeks."

"Tell me, do I spend most of my time here unconscious? Because that explains how my future self is so old."

"If you weren't so bad at saving the Doctor, you wouldn't be dead all of the time." SASSY sassed.

"Wow, thanks. Coming from the robot who won't even tell me what I'm supposed to do!"

"You need to discover that yourself! Remember, you create yourself, not I." SASSY said.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

"That means SASSY Systems are unable to provide you with any sort of foresight in regards to your travels with the Doctor."

"Speaking of that, I've gone two episodes in a row. Is it supposed to be like that? Am I just going to go to every episode, one by one?"

"Negative. You will arrive at destinations in the order they require your assistance."

"That doesn't make any sense, I can time travel."

"It's too complicated for your tiny human brain to comprehend. Now, please go get dressed. Your mission in Time Period 002 was completed. Please begin your mission in Time Period 003." the computer instructed.

"You're _so mean_ to me, gosh. And naw, not yet. I'm starving." Charlie said.

"That is unlikely, your body was kept well fed during your unconsciousness." SASSY scoffed.

"Yeah, well, I don't like hospital food. I want real food. I'm going to the kitchen. Fuck your rules."


	4. Charles is I

**Title** : The Unlikely Saviour

 **Summary** : _Charlie still isn't really sure what in the hell just happened. But he was pretty sure he just ended up in the same universe as the Doctor. Armed with vague instructions from his future self to somehow save certain time periods from destruction, Charles Jay McKimmon isn't really sure how to behave when he meets one of his favourite characters in real life.  
_

 **Chapter Title:** Charles Is I

 **Recap:** Charlie lives through The End of Time by pretending to be Prince Francis from the Evalonga Galaxies. He dies a rather painful death and awakens once again onboard the SASSY express in search of some food.

 **Note** : The amount of research that goes into making sure I'm not mucking stuff up... asdfghjkl

* * *

After Charlie finished stuffing his face, he headed to the closet. His body felt rather weak, he supposed it was due to all of the unnecessary bed rest he'd been getting lately. He was already a year older. Or a little bit more than a year. He quickly did the math. His birthday was September 2nd, 1998. It was June 23rd 2016 when he'd been kidnapped. That was...295 days plus 352 plus 14 days... Math was never really his strong suit. **  
**

"SASSY, what's 295 plus 352 plus 14?" he asked the air.

"661 days." came the instant reply.

"So I was 17, 661 days ago... How old am I now?" he questioned.

"You are 18 years and 296 days old." came the reply.

"Seriously? It feels like it's only been maybe 18 hours for me."

"Considering you spent much of your time dead, that is to be expected." came the snarky reply.

"Oi! Don't be rude," he chastised as he looked around for some new clothes. A light lit up and guided him to what he assumed would be time period appropriate clothing. It was some tight yet stretchy black pants, fancy black long boots, a white button up shirt alongside this red jacket thing with flouncy sleeves. There was a hat but he disregarded it. In all, he looked as though he belonged in the fifteen hundreds. His mind began to wander as he got dressed. He was beginning to miss home, even if there wasn't much to miss. He hadn't seen his parents since he turned 13 and he didn't have a whole lot of friends, not to mention friends who actually cared about him.

The alien and alternate universe thing was starting to grate on him but if there was anything Charles Jay McKimmon was good at, it was pushing things out of his mind to be dealt with later.

"Alright!" he cheered with a fake laugh as he finally managed to struggle into the clothes. He pocketed his keys and psychic paper and then hurried to the console and forwarded them to Time Period 003, "There we are. Any hints, sassy SASSY?" he asked with a forced grin. He was once again ready to painfully die for a man he didn't even know. A fictional character that stole his life away. A tinge of bitterness filled him.

"You are not here to save the Doctor. The door is to your left." was the only thing SASSY had to say to him. Charlie tried to press but she wouldn't say anything more and so, with a lazy salute, Charlie headed out. He hadn't walked more than five steps away from the cardboard ship when a rather official looking man came up to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" called the official. Charlie stopped and stared.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection." the official quickly listed.

"Oh, but of course," Charlie said easily, pulling out his psychic paper and showing it to him, "Have you by any chance seen my cousin around these parts? I'm afraid I've arrived much later than I had intended."

"Oh, uhh. My mistake... Yes, indeed, I have, your Holiness. He, alongside the Viscountess and their Eunuch arrived just short of a few moments ago in the Marketplace." the official said nervously, pointing.

"Thank you very much sir, it is quite appreciated." Charlie said, grinning at the man before he continued to where the man had been pointing. He managed to locate the TARDIS pretty much in the middle of the marketplace but he couldn't see the Doctor anywhere.

"What a big jump," Charlie muttered to himself, "From nine to eleven. This is gonna be a pain to get used to."

Suddenly he heard a piercing scream and his mind quickly connected it to the scene with the flower girl and that Francisco guy. Franceio? Franceso? Francesco? Whatever it was, Charlie took off running towards the scream, hoping to catch up to Amy and Rory who could then lead him to the Doctor.

Charlie arrived just in time to see Rory calling for Amy to come back. Charlie skidded to a stop and was just about to run back and hide when Rory suddenly called for him.

By _name_.

 _Real_ name.

"Charlie? Is that you? Come and help!" Rory called.

Charlie's throat constricted, he couldn't think straight.

 _How_ did Rory know who he was? He wasn't supposed to _know who he was_! Someone bumped into him, their arm tickling his neck, muttering an apology. Charlie didn't bother to look at who it was. The fear transformed into intense anger as he stalked towards the man. Rory stood up from the unconscious body of a girl and looked at Charlie with a friendly grin.

"It is you! Can you go grab Am- gahagh!" he choked suddenly as Charlie grabbed the man by the throat and pushed him against the wall. Rory looked at him with fear in his eyes as he squirmed, trying to get out of Charlie's death grip. Anger, so hot, burning anger flooded Charlie and he couldn't see straight. His mind was thoroughly muddled.

"How do you know who I am?" Charlie demanded, barely able to form the words in his rage. Rory didn't say anything, just continued to gasp for air and squirm. His face was slowly turning blue. Blue like the TARDIS. Blue like the ship of the man who ruined his life. Charlie lifted him slightly away from the wall before pushing him back harshly against the cemented wall. He wasn't even conscious of what he was doing, fear and anger and frustration at his entire situation just blinding him all at once. He didn't even notice tears slipping from his eyes until he heard someone running back. Anger was consuming him in its hot, hot fire.

So much **_anger_**.

"Charlie?" called a female. Charlie didn't even turn to look, too focused on Rory at the moment, "Charlie? Charlie, what are you doing?! Charlie, you're going to kill him!" came the voice that quickly changed into panic. He felt arms come around him, wrap around his neck and tug him roughly away from Rory. Suddenly his mind cleared and he was filled with horror. He allowed himself to be pulled away without resistance. Rory collapsed to the ground, chest heaving but Charlie's gaze remained firmly on the wall where Rory's face had been. His body began to shake - what had he become? He nearly killed a man, just because he knew his name?

"I-" Charlie croaked, unable to look Amy and Rory in the eye, "I... I'm so sorry." he managed to whimper before collapsing to his knees and griping his head in his hands.

 _Charlie, what are you doing?_

 _Charlie, you're going to kill him!_

 _you're going to kill him!_

 _kill him..._

* * *

It took a moment for Charlie to compose himself before he suddenly stood up and shot the fearful and confused couple a grin that expertly hid his own uncertainty.

"Sorry about that," he apologized as Rory rubbed at his throat with a wince, "But hey! You'll live. Just some bruises."

"S'alright." replied Rory hoarsely for lack of anything else to say. Charlie flinched at how his voice sounded and moved closer to inspect the damage he had done.

"No, you stay away from him," said Amy coldly. Charlie raised his hands in a peacemaking gesture.

"Sorry," he said again. Amy seemed to engage him in some sort of scary staring contest and he looked away as soon as he realized she was trying to intimidate him. And intimidate him, she did.

"Sorry." he said for about the fourth time in about 55 seconds.

Amy hrumphed at him before walking away, clearing expecting the two to follow her. Rory gave Charlie a wary glance before sidestepping him and going after his fiancee. Charlie rubbed the back of his neck before he turned away, he had something better to do than fangirl over vampires.

"Alright," he hummed to himself as he walked into the city, "Time to find a needle in a haystack." he grinned but a troubled expression quickly took over his face as he walked.

He couldn't believe he had just done that.

To _Rory_ of all people!

Charlie felt sickened and he chewed on the inside of his cheek as he looked around as well as he could, mentally beating himself up.

What is _wrong_ with you? he scowled at himself, accidentally scaring away a little girl who thought he was making that expression at her. He tightened his jaw in an odd expression. _Similar to the emoji ' :/ '_ he realized and laughed despite himself, further frightening the poor girl who finally decided to run off.

"Sorry!" he called after her, stifling another giggle before looking up at the sky as it slowly began to get dark and cold, "Ahh," he mumbled as he continued to try and find Guido's house, "I hate my life so much." He had been planning to get there before the Doctor and his companions and now he'd be lucky if he even got to see a bit of the action. Suddenly, a feminine voice said, "It's been a while-" and music began to play, startling Charlie out of his thoughts.

"I shouldn't have kept you waiting," the voice continued as the music got louder. "But I'm here now."

"What the hell - ?" he exclaimed, looking around before realizing it was coming from him. He froze as he finally recognized the tune to be "Break the Ice" by Britney Spears. He patted himself down frantically.

"Shoulders, clear, arms, clear, body, clear, pockets... no pockets, oh wait," he said as he finally felt something attached to the inside of his pants. Awkwardly, he looked around to make sure no one was watching before pulling the object out with surprising speed. It was a brick of a cellphone. He quickly answered it, partially to find out what the hell was going on and partially to make the embarrassing song stop playing.

"Hello?" he asked cautiously.

"Hey _baby_ ," came an unfamiliar voice in a mock-masculine way while also attempting a Canadian accent at the same time before breaking out into giggles. Charlie raised an eyebrow at that.

"Uhhh... who's this?" he asked, weirded out.

"Sorry, sorry. I just thought that would be funny." the Giggler apologized, barely stifling their giggles. Charlie rolled his eyes and moved to a more concealed location before people starting thing he was crazy, talking to a piece of plastic.

"Right. And you are?" he tried again.

"Awww, you haven't met me yet?" the voice seemed to pout, "Maann, I thought I was being so clever sneaking onto SASSY and hiding that phone in your pants. No wonder you didn't laugh."

"Wait, you snuck onto SASSY? Who are you?" he demanded. Suddenly he heard another voice. His own voice.

"Hey... Who're you talking to?" his voice asked the Giggler with a yawn.

"Just, oh, y'know. Past-you." the Giggler responded.

"What?!" Future Charlies' muffled voice responded in shock, "Wait, wait. That phone call. That random ass, embarrassing as all hell phone call. Waaay back during Vampire In Venice. That was _you_?" There was a brief silence in which Charlie supposed the Giggler was nodding and or shrugging, "Gimme that. And Britney Spears, really?" was the last thing Charlie heard before the phone disconnected.

"Uh, well," Charlie said, staring at the phone in his hand, "That was... interesting I suppose." He pushed it out of his mind for now, clutching the cell phone in slight disbelief. He looked around at where his feet had led him and realized he was right outside Guido's house.

"Well, I'll be," he breathed. A genuine smile spread across his face now that he no longer had to continue his search across the city. He pressed a kiss against the phone in relief, "Thank you, Giggler." he said happily before tucking the phone away in the waistband of his pants. He raised his hand to knock on the door before he realized it was already open. He quickly slunk inside, overhearing a bit of the conversation before they all stopped and turned around to stare at him.

"Who are you?" asked Guido, "Why are you inside of my home? Get out!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," the Doctor said quickly, standing so that he was in front of Charlie, "This is a friend of ours. He'll help you get your daughter back. Isn't that right, Charles?"

Charlie nodded quickly, scanning the room until his eyes rested upon the barrels of explosives just hidden away. Perfect.

Guido seemed hesitate but nodded.

"So, Amy," Charlie said, grinning and looking just off of her shoulder, not able to look her in the eye after the previous events of the day, "Wanna be my fiancee for the day?"

"What?" Amy blurted, "You're just a kid!"

"Eh, well, they've already seen the Doctor and Rory. They've seen you too actually but they haven't seen me. Someone they haven't seen plus someone they've kinda seen is a lot easier to slip in than two someones' they've kinda seen." Charlie explained.

"I'm not gonna be engaged to a child!" Amy protested.

"The Doctor looks like a child, you didn't mind him much," Charlie shot back, "So just suck it up or don't go at all."

Amy rolled her eyes at him, "Fine," she bit out. Charlie grinned and went closer to Rory and looked at his shoulder just as he had Amys'.

"It's Mista-steal-yo-girl!" he sang teasingly in Rory's ear so no one else could hear. Rory looked confused. "Oh right, that song hasn't come out yet for you guys." Charlie said, still grinning, leaning back, "Anyway, blah blah blah, 'makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?' blah blah, we done here?" At their blank looks he grinned wider, still very careful not to look anyone in the eyes, he didn't deserve to, "Right! Tuck in for the night and tomorrow my fiancee and I will see about that school, savvy?"

"I'm not your fiancee!" Amy retorted.

"Aw, how you wound my poor heart," Charlie said dryly, "Don't worry, princess, I don't see you that way," he patted her head condescendingly only to collapse onto the floor as she elbowed him sharply in the stomach.

"Jeeeeezzz," he wheezed out, clutching his stomach, "So mean."

Guido was silent this entire time, not knowing what was going on.

"Amy, we do not hurt our friends. Charlie is a friend," the Doctor chastised her.

"Yeah, well, tell him that, will you? He tried to kill Rory so I think he needs that lesson more than I do," she bit out. Charlie froze, ice flooding his body.

"What?" the Doctor asked, shocked.

"He had him up against the wall with his hands around his neck. If I didn't go back when I did, I think he woulda killed 'im." Amy said accusingly. Rory didn't say anything but he rubbed at the ghost pain in his neck. The Doctor suddenly swooped down and examined Rorys' throat before turning to Charlie in a cold fury.

"What. Did. You. Do?" he enunciated clearly, all friendly disposition from earlier gone. Charlie swallowed.

"I..." he croaked, ready to explain before he shook his head, "No excuse." he muttered, lowering his head to the ground, still unable to look anyone in the eye. Charlie moved towards the door to leave.

"Don't you dare!" the Doctor scowled at him and Charlie turned back, feeling a chill from the open door against his neck.

"I don't understand, is he a friend or not?" demanded Guido. The Doctor finally turned his gaze away from Charlie. Charlie frowned, the back of his neck itching slightly but he didn't dare move.

"I'm not sure." said the Doctor, frowning, and Charlie felt the unbearable, ever consuming anger from before rise up again.

 _'I'm not sure' ? He has the **gall** to yell at me? To think he has any right to question my friendship? Me, who died for him twice already and many more times in the future? He thinks he has **any right** to be able to get angry at me? Me? Who's life was uprooted so he could live a little longer? Well two can play at this game. The Doctor still needs me to save him in this time period after all...  
_

A dark smirk spread across his face but the aching flaming of anger just didn't go away and eventually consumed any self control he had left.

"You know what?!" Charlie suddenly yelled, getting up to his feet in a sharp movement, the hot, hot anger fueling his movement and clouding his vision, "Fuck you! Fuck you and fuck everything you stand for! I hope you burn in hell! I'm done with helping you, you piece of shit!" With that said, he turned on his heels and disappeared into the night. He was done helping the Doctor.

"Everything has its time and everything dies," he growled to himself, the heat of his anger still muddling his mind, as he stalked off, walking right past SASSY and continuing on his way, "Well Doctor, I guess your time just got a hellava lot closer."

It was just so, so **_hot_**.

And he was _so, so_ _angry_.

Charlie let out a growl as the anger refused to abate. He picked up a wooden sign and smashed it against a building in his blinding fury. It shattered into pieces that splintered his hands. Blood slowly dripped from his torn flesh but it did nothing to abate the anger. He let out another growl before flinging his shirt off. Suddenly his mind began to clear again.

"What the hell was that?" he asked himself quietly out loud. It felt as thought something foreign had lit up his insides with anger. "No. Something... something intensified my anger and bitterness," he realized, "Something wanted me away from the Doctor - to leave him defenseless. But how did they make me so angry?" he wondered, rubbing his neck in frustration as he picked up his shirt. Now that the heat from the anger was gone he was starting to feel cold in the night air. He frowned as he noticed something plastic-y stuck on it. It was a bit too dark to see it properly.

He felt around with his fingers against what appeared to be a square shaped sticker stuck to the neck of his shirt. He squinted at it, not wanting to touch it. It must've been on his neck earlier but had come off with his shirt when he flung it off. He was barely able to make out the word 'Hate' written on it.

Hate... a sticker that said Hate? What?

Oh.

OH!

The mood drugs! He realized before breaking into a sprint to the place where he had nearly killed Rory. He fell to his knees and searched the floor until there was a plastic-y sheen on the ground. He used his shirt to pick it up, not wanting it to come into contact with his skin. It was the same as the other one. 'Hate' mood drugs.

 _How did Rory know who he was? He wasn't supposed to know who he was! **Someone bumped into him, their arm tickling his neck, muttering an apology.**_

 _... **feeling a chill from the open door against his neck...** Charlie frowned, the **back of his neck itching slightly** but he didn't dare move._

But who would know about him? Who would wish harm upon the Doctor so far in the past with items from the future? His eyes widened in realized.

"Of course," he muttered, "Of course. But if he's here, then where's...?"

A girl ran past him, chasing after a man.

"There she is," Charlie grinned, "That's my girl! You get 'im, Clara!" he shouted after her happily as one of Clara's reincarnations chased the Great Intelligence away from where he could cause harm to the Doctor. Neither of them heard him but he grinned nonetheless, one mystery solved. Charlie grinned wider, whistling as he made his way back to Guido's house, stickers still on his shirt. It was late and he still had a lot of explaining to do to make sure no one beat him up in the future. He would have to be very careful with to not reveal Clara's presence this early though.

Charlie hummed a tone under his breath. He was just happy that he wasn't going mad like he thought he was.

* * *

After he explained, his SASSY watch informed him he could now leave. With only the slightest of hesitation, he headed back to SASSY, doing his best to ignore the utter looks of betrayal shining in their eyes.

The Doctor was the only one that seemed to respect his decision somewhat which he appreciated beyond belief. He was tempted to try and save Isabella and her father but he realized he might just mess up the timelines by doing that. After all, what if Isabella had a great-great-great-great whatever grandchild that ended up destroying the universe? _No_ thank you.

He doubted he could anyway. When he tried to save Jabe, the universe ended up killing them both off. He shuddered in remembrance of the pain of being killed by a gigantic fan.

So with that in mind he ignored the guilt in his heart as he pushed away how much Guido cared for his daughter and vise versa. He stepped into SASSY and didn't look back.

Not even once.

And it would haunt him for the rest of his life.


	5. Sorry!

Sorry to say that this story is going on _HIATUS_.

I just ran out of any motivation to write this story because I started rewatching some other stuff from my childhood that I'm now re-obsessed with... oops.

You know how it is - watch something new, grow an obsession, eventually wean off of it when you run out of episodes and fanfiction...

I'll be back. Probably. Doctor Who is still awesome, I just wanna watch/maybe write for something else.

Thanks to those of you who read up to here and I'm sorry that I couldn't continue Charlie's adventures for you!

AND, because I'm not a _total_ butt, **if you were truly invested in this story** and want to know what I had been planning, I could tell you the whole plot, with enough details to _hopefully_ satisfy any curious minds, over PM but I will not post it here because I might like to continue writing this in the future.

Thanks for your understanding!

-Wandering Sprites.


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